‘Important lesson’: Conservative activist reveals ‘fascinating’ experience at liberal Sundance Film Festival

A documentary about bridging the political divide in one of the most hotly contested battleground counties in the United States debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this week, leading some to conclude that the historically liberal festival is moving toward the center. 

“One of the things that is fascinating about ‘Bucks County, USA’ being chosen as an official selection at Sundance is it appears, in the era of Trump being re-elected, the well-known left-leaning Sundance Film Festival is moving to the middle,” Paul Martino said. “There is a new openness to dialogue,” 

Martino, the founder of Bullpen Capital, told Fox News Digital about the documentary series “Bucks County, USA” being screened at Sundance, a Utah festival known for screening films promoting liberal causes and being a place for anti-Trump demonstrations.

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Martino, who is featured in the film, told Fox News Digital that the five-part docuseries is “all about the political divisions that happen in the United States focused on where I live, Bucks County, USA.”

“It is about all of the post-COVID policies and all of the things that happened at the school board level once a lot of the parents’ rights movement started, and the film dives into a lot of detail about the political division that happened, and it focuses, ironically, on the friendship of my daughter and her best friend, who is what I would describe as my political rival’s daughter,” Martino explained. 

Paul Martino at the Sundance Film Festival (Paul Martino)

Martino, a conservative, told Fox News Digital walking around Sundance was a “fascinating” experience and that he encountered many people who seemed to be open to the movie’s message of listening to the other side.

“Obviously, it is a rather left-leaning crowd in general. But even the people behind Sundance, the people who pick the films this year, said that they felt this film, ‘Bucks County, USA,’ was very important because it was in a Trump re-elected era,” Martino said. 

“Understanding and speaking to the other side and understanding who the other side is is important.

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“One of the amazing stories told by one of the filmmakers at Sundance was there’s a guy sitting next to me in a MAGA hat who I would have never talked to on the plane had I not made this movie and realized he had a lot to say to me. And the fact that this film affected even the filmmakers, I think, is a really interesting and important lesson for the rest of the country.”

While many people at Sundance were receptive to the film, Martino told Fox News Digital he did encounter some opposition from people at a question-and-answer session after the screening. 

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The marquee of the Egyptian Theatre during the Sundance Film Festival Jan. 28, 2020, in Park City, Utah.  (AP/Arthur Mola/Invision)

“I would say one of the only disappointments of the experience was I felt that some people in the crowd, you know, it’s an honor to be in the Q&A at the end of the series and, look, we had everybody up there. We had people who really don’t like each other, who disagree vehemently, and I think it was lost on the audience that all of us were standing there,” Martino said. 

“The fact that we all agreed to be part of this, the fact that we were all there and I got asked a question or two that were directed in my direction that I felt were a little bit inflammatory and I kind of chuckled to myself thinking, ‘Did you just watch the movie? And did you just see the fact that we’re all here? Maybe you missed a little something there.'”